Irish Examiner view: UK upheaval over Mandelson will affect Ireland too

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party would be no friend of Ireland

Peter Mandelson with  British prime minister Keir Starmer and Peter Mandelson last year. Starmer’s government appears to have squandered the mandate given by its landslide general election victory, which raises the spectre of another party assuming power in the near future.

The never-ending Jeffrey Epstein controversy took another twist on Monday with the arrest of Peter Mandelson in England.

Formerly a European commissioner for trade, and a British cabinet minister going even further back, Mandelson was questioned by police regarding accusations that he passed sensitive information to Epstein about matters such as a proposed bailout for the euro.

Mandelson is expected to face further questioning, with misconduct in public office the specific offence British police are focused on.

Other political careers have already been irrevocably damaged by association with this scandal. British prime minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff, Cork man Morgan McSweeney, has already resigned. Widely regarded as the power behind Starmer’s throne, McSweeney stepped down while taking ‘full responsibility’ for advising Starmer to appoint Mandelson as US ambassador.

With the benefit of hindsight, this appears to have been a staggering mistake, or couple of mistakes. Mandelson’s political career was long dogged by scandal and resignation, and it seems extraordinary that McSweeney would recommend his appointment to such a sensitive post — or that Starmer would approve it.

Now the latter is damaged as prime minister and, with significant by-elections and local elections on the horizon across the water, many observers expect him and the British Labour Party to be duly punished at the polls.

There is much for Ireland to consider in these recent events, and not just for the political nerds among us.

Starmer’s government appears to have squandered the mandate given by its landslide general election victory, which raises the spectre of another party assuming power in the near future.

It would have seemed unthinkable until recently but Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party now looks set to overtake the Conservatives in any upcoming general election. Farage, a right-wing populist, would be no friend of Ireland — or Europe, given his steering of the Brexit campaign — if he came to power.

We may be paying more attention than usual to UK politics in the coming months.

No room for hooliganism

Readers will be familiar with last Friday’s shameful events at the Dundalk-Drogheda United game in the League of Ireland.

Drogheda supporters threw flares onto the Oriel Park pitch, delaying kick-off to allow fire brigade personnel clear the fireworks. The damage has made the surface unplayable and repairs, soon to get underway, will cost approximately €70,000.

Clearly, this is a significant health risk: Flares which can scorch a playing surface so badly it becomes unplayable and needs significant repairs have no place at any sporting event.

The potential for serious injury which such flares could cause to spectators is horrifying, and the two clubs confirmed subsequently that a 12-year-old supporter sustained burns to his face after being struck by one of the flares thrown last Friday evening.

Minister for sport Patrick O’Donovan, who was present at the game, stated on Monday that he had stopped all funding for League of Ireland astroturf pitches as a result of what had happened in Oriel Park.

Speaking on radio, the minister said the scene “was like an air raid” and raised the possibility that some future games might have to take place behind closed doors.

Although he acknowledged that that would be an unfortunate and costly scenario for the clubs involved, he also said: “You can’t have a situation where you bring innocent people into a match and there’s a danger of them literally being set on fire.”

Halting Government funding is a significant step to take, but here there is a genuine risk to life if such behaviour is allowed to take root and occur again.

Simply put, such hooliganism cannot be allowed to become even a possibility at games.

The clubs, the league, and the Football Association of Ireland must be proactive and ensure Friday night is the last time we see such dangerous behaviour.

Fresh start for International Rugby Experience

The chequered history of the International Rugby Experience in Limerick may be about to take a positive turn.

The facility was opened in May 2023, but closed its doors just over a year and a half later, in December 2024. It had been set up through a €30m gift from the JP McManus Foundation and, before it closed, Mr McManus had sought to donate the Experience to Limerick City and County Council, but the offer was turned down.

Now the venue, a six-storey building on O’Connell St in Limerick City, is being proposed as a dedicated women’s museum to be focused on telling the stories of Irish women.

While still in the planning stage, it is expected to place particular emphasis on voices that have not previously been recognised or represented.

It would not be the only way in which the women’s museum would address a glaring imbalance. A Government source told the Irish Examiner: “If it goes ahead, this would be a major cultural development for Limerick and the Mid-West, helping to bring more balance to where national cultural institutions are located and giving women’s history a permanent home.”

At present there is just one other national cultural institution outside Dublin, the Crawford Art Gallery in Cork, which is currently closed for renovations.

This is a laudable move — rather than having a large building stand empty, this plan will repurpose the facility in an imaginative and groundbreaking way. It may also serve as a useful template for other cities and counties seeking to maximise the potential of empty buildings at their disposal.

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